One of Belfast’s best-known bars is axing big brands in favour of local brewers.

The Sunflower Bar on Union Street is overhauling Guinness and Smithwicks for locally produced alcohol like Yardsman.

Owner Pedro Donald said: “The licensed trade in Northern Ireland has always been restricted by the tied house phenomenon that excludes competition and only promotes the big multinational’s brands, which in turn has meant that the trade’s offering to the public has been somewhat generic.

“I firmly believe that consumers are completely fed up with the same standard offerings and now they want something different.

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“I also believe that we now have some amazing local craft breweries here in Ireland that deserve to have their brands showcased.”

The Hercules Brewing Company, the first craft brewery in Belfast and the creators of Yardsman beers, are one of the breweries chosen by Pedro adorn the bar counter in Sunflower, with their Yardsman Original Double Stout now pouring as the venue’s only stout of choice.

Pedro added: “We are regularly asked ‘What have you got that’s local?’ and in my view the Yardsman Original Double Stout is a fabulous beer and it is brewed here in Belfast, just a stone’s throw from the bar and is made using all natural, local ingredients with traditional brewing methods.

“We’re in Belfast so why not offer a Belfast stout rather than a Dublin one?”

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Sunflower’s tap range, which is now almost exclusively local, will carry craft beers from across Ireland including, ranges from as Hilden, Ireland’s oldest independent brewery, Farmageddon, Northbound, Clearsky and Kinnegar, as well as a locally produced cider from Armagh, McIvor’s.